


I'll Follow You Into The Dark

by livia_1291



Series: You’ll Never Walk Alone [3]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Canon names not used, DenNor, Family, Fix It, Gen, Helheimr | Hel (Realm), Hetalia, How Do I Tag, Love, Love you guys!, M/M, Magic, Mysteries, References to Norse Religion & Lore, Sequel, SuFin, alexander is sweden, and norway isn't dead, aph, aph denmark - Freeform, aph fem iceland, aph finland, aph iceland, aph nordics - Freeform, aph norway - Freeform, aph sweden, but he also isn't exactly alive, finland is not a pushover, hws, iceland is an edgy teen, kristján is iceland, magnus is denmark, myths, oh my!, oh well, see i promised i would, sindre is norway, to honor some friends, väinö is finland
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-22 12:44:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21302285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livia_1291/pseuds/livia_1291
Summary: It's been a month since the crew returned from Iceland without Sindre, and life is hardly returning to normal for Kristján, Alexander, Väinö, and Magnus. When Väinö receives a dream from Sindre that renews their hope that he's still alive, they abandon any sense of normalcy to pack their bags and follow him into the dark world of myths, monsters, and magic.The third installment in the You'll Never Walk Alone verse, dealing with sacrifice, hope, and love of all kinds.
Relationships: Denmark/Norway (Hetalia), Finland/Sweden (Hetalia)
Series: You’ll Never Walk Alone [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1379743
Comments: 8
Kudos: 16





	I'll Follow You Into The Dark

“Kris. _ Kris_. _ Kristján_! Hey, you have to eat something,” Alexander chided, folding his newspaper and setting it aside to look down his nose at the moody teenager sitting across from him. “You’ve barely eaten all weekend.”

Kristján only poked at his the the steaming porridge in his bowl. The morning light did nothing to hide the dark shadows beneath his eyes, betraying the long, restless nights he had been enduring. Since they had come back from Iceland, he had not been sleeping well, and eating seemed like a chore. Why bother when there was no point anymore? Sindre was gone. 

Magnus had been doing his best to keep things as normal as possible, cooking, taking him to school, continuing with the clean-up efforts outside the walls, but at night, when he thought everyone else was asleep, Kristján could hear him grieve in the company of the silent silver moon.

“Don’t want to,” he muttered, lifting his chin defiantly and meeting Alex’s eyes. The crease between his brows and the glint in his eyes did not bode well for any logical arguments, Alex thought grimly.

Before he could respond, Väinö swept into the dining room, fully dressed and wide awake. He took his place beside Alex, carefully avoiding the empty seat at the head of the table.

“I dreamed last night,” he announced matter-of-factly, drumming his fingers expectantly on the worn table in front of him.

“Big deal, so did we all,” Kris retorted, resting his cheek in his palm as he stirred his rapidly cooling porridge with the tip of his spoon.

Väinö shot him a sharp look, and the boy dropped his suddenly sheepish gaze to his bowl. “I _ mean _ that I dreamed of Sindre. Or rather, he sent me a dream.”

Magnus, who had been half-asleep through Kris and Alexander’s whole conversation nearly choked in his haste to swallow the coffee he was nursing. “He _ what _?! What did he say?”

“Wait. Wait, a dream? Does that mean he’s alive?” Kristján was leaning over the table, pale eyes wide and bright with hope as he shoved the forgotten bowl of porridge aside.

The Finn winced, brows furrowing and lips twisting into a frown as he shook his head “Alive is a bit too...ah, it’s not the right term. But he isn’t exactly _ dead _ either. It’s like he’s stuck in some sort of in-between. A place between life and death.”

“So where’s that? Do you know where we can find him?” Magnus was already on his feet, pacing the length of the table in anxious anticipation. Kris could see the way his hands were trembling, grief and hope rushing through them all in a confusing cocktail of nerves.

“Of course not - you’re really overestimating how much information I got from him. I mean, he probably only contacted me because the veils between me and the Otherworlds are thinner,” he speculated, swiping a sip of Alexander’s coffee and crinkling his nose in distaste at the lack of cream in it. “He actually didn’t say much - I think it was hard for him to reach me from wherever he is. He kept saying “my room, third book to the right, top shelf, Kristján.” He seemed pretty adamant about that last part,” he added as an afterthought. Before anyone else could speak, Kristján was on his feet, bolting up the stairs to Sindre and Magnus’ bedroom.

Since Sindre had been taken to Hel, the master bedroom had been left untouched. Nobody could bear to go in it, except Alexander, who dusted and vacuumed regularly, because “It’s what Sindre would want.” Magnus slept on the couch, which was a terrible arrangement given that the sun never set and there was a notable lack of curtains in the den, but he absolutely refused to enter that room, almost as though it was haunted. Even then, he paused in the threshold, Alexander and Väinö crowding anxiously around him.

“What is it?” Magnus whispered hoarsely, curling his fingers around the lentils and swallowing past the lump in his throat. He could hear his blood rushing in his ears, drowning out the sound of his own breath. 

“East of the Sun, West of the Moon,” Kristján murmured, blowing the dust off the cover and carefully thumbing through the yellowed pages. “It’s his favorite fairytale, he used to read it to me when I was little… Why did he tell you this?” He turned to Väinö, clutching the book to his chest like he was trying to imprint it into his skin. 

Väinö only shook his head helplessly. “I don’t know, I hoped that _ you _ would know.”

“Maybe it’s directions? Like in the title?” Alexander suggested, and Kristján pursed his lips.

“We know there are no entrances to Hel “East of the Sun and west of the Moon.” I don’t think that’s even a real place.”

“Well gods, Kristján, I wouldn’t know, I’ve never read it,” Alex sighed, spreading his arms in exasperation. “What’s it even about?”

Kristján paused, looking to his companions pleadingly. Magnus and Väinö both shook their heads cluelessly, and Kris exhaled, rocking back on his heels.

“_Fine_. But it’s been a while, and I’m not a storyteller. So there’s this white bear,” he began slowly, running a thoughtful finger along the worn cloth spine of the book, “but he’s really a cursed prince. He falls in love with a beautiful peasant girl and takes her to his palace. At night, when it was pitch dark, he could shed his bear form and, uh…_be with her _ as a man.”

“They were fucking,” Magnus added cheerfully, and Kristján spluttered. 

“_Thanks _ Magnus, we know. Gods. Anyway, He tells her no candles, and no open curtains. She’s not allowed to see him. But of course, she gets curious and lights a candle because she wants to see who she’s been sleeping with, and because nothing _ ever _ works out, some wax falls on him and he wakes up because _ ow, fuck_.”

“Guess some people just aren’t into that,” Väinö mused, earning a glare from Kris.

“Would you all _ quit _ that? I’m never going to finish this. _ Ugh_, so the bear prince is pretty upset - he tells her that if she had waited a year, he would have been rid of his bear form, but now he has to go to the palace East of the Sun and West of the Moon to marry a troll princess, which is _ really _ gross if you ask me. So she freaks out and goes asking for the way to the castle East of the Sun and West of the Moon, and eventually, she gets directed to the Wind Spirits. They know where it is, but they’re all too weak to take her there, except for the North Wind, who-”

“The wind!” Väinö gasped, “He mentioned the North Wind, I thought he was just having trouble holding onto the dream connection! That’s it, he must want us to talk to the Wind Spirits! They’ve been over all of the earth, they’ll know how to find him!”

“Wind spirits?” Kristján scoffed. “Doesn’t that sound kind of...I don’t know, far-fetched? Do they even exist? I thought that was all just mythology.”

“Seriously? We just sealed up an actual rift to another world and you’re asking if the Wind Spirits are real?” Väinö snorted, crossing his arms over his chest and giving Kris an incredulous look from under his lashes.

“Okay, yeah, that’s fair, but how do we know you’re right?” Kristján shifted his weight, chewing his lip as he gazed at the worn gilded letters on the cover. “Sindre could have meant so many things in sending us to this book. Or maybe he didn’t and just wanted to remind me to read.”

Väinö only sighed this time, though his voice was tense and exasperated. “I _ don’t _ know, obviously, but it’s the best plan we’ve got. Sindre sent us to this book for a reason. He wouldn’t have used up so much energy on a dream just to tell you to read. If we’re wrong, we’ll just...reexamine the problem. Try something new. ”

“Damn, Sindre,” Magnus muttered, running a hand impatiently through messy hair, “This is _ not _ the time to be cryptic.”

“Fine,” Kris conceded, still gingerly cradling the book as though it was made of precious silver instead of worn cloth and aged paper. “How do we contact wind spirits? I mean, where do they even live?”

Dark eyes sparked with determination, like steel to flint, and Väinö turned to Alexander, clearing his throat and clapping his hands together. “For starters, we’ll need a wooden bowl, a spoonful of quicksilver, and a really, _ really _ big sack.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends! It's been a while - I never write when I should. I'll be a little more sporadic in updating this story than I was with I'll Keep Going (Just Stay By My Side) but do not fear, it will be done some day! 
> 
> I haven't got a lot to say yet, but I hope you enjoy this chapter, and it's good to be back!
> 
> xx.
> 
> Livia


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